HULL FC coach John Cartwright said their 24-20 win over Catalans Dragons would not have been achieved without Zak Hardaker.

The veteran centre, fullback or back-rower showed another string to his bow by playing at halfback and Cartwright said: “Zak is a coach’s dream.

”We don’t win the game there without him. He’s tough and competitive and he’s everything you want in a player.”

After seeing his side almost lose a 22-0 lead, Cartwright said: “It was a funny old game. I could sense it coming with about 20 minutes to go. 

“We had so many chances to put them away, even at the back end of the first half, and we didn’t do it. 

“We did what we had to do for the first 50 minutes of the game, but in the back 30 we’ve got to be better.”

“We just got loose. We got loose defensively and we got loose with the ball. 

“In the first half, there was nothing brilliant about it but we were clinical and we were as we trained. 

“I’m not making any excuses – we should have had that game put away in the bank a long time before we did.”

Catalans assistant coach Ryan Sheridan said: “It was a poor first half with poor completions. We conceded two tries from kicks and off two errors.

“In the second half we were much improved and had a lot of spirit, but we’re disappointed to lose.”

“The first 20 minutes of the second half was a tough slog for us but then our players stepped up. Toby Sexton, Charlie Staines and Kruise Leeming all started to find little bits in and around the ruck for us and then we got some momentum to score a couple of tries and bring us back into the game.”